Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd represents modernist Islamic thought, a growing trend among Muslim intellectuals. Modernists’ most distinctive feature is a call from within the Islamic tradition to separate religion from politics. In practice, this means the independence and autonomy of political and legal institutions from religious influence and interference. The demand to separate religion from the public sphere is coupled in modernist thought with an effort to subject religious knowledge and institutions to modern academic standards. This critical inquiry, they suggest, should not only include religious thought and history, but also the Qur’an itself, believing Islam to be conducive to modern values such as academic inquiry and secularism. Modernists see in their perceived understanding of modernity the means of salvation from political tyranny and religious backwardness. Abu Zayd advocated for this reform throughout his work. Understanding his thought on this issue not only highlights the contribution of a prominent intellectual in contemporary Arab thought but it also sheds light on his wider intellectual family. My presentation will start by defining in depth the terms “modernist” and “secularism.” This is significant because Arab intellectuals appropriated these terms and detached them from their Western roots. I will then proceed to list and analyze the arguments according to which Abu Zayd determined that Islam is not only compatible with secularism but it is rather a secular religion by its very nature. His reasons include his assertion that secularism is compatible with the diversity of interpretations that has been the historical reality of Islam. It also ensures the right to choose faith or disbelieve freely as mandated by Islam and is evident in the lack of a penalty for apostasy in the Qur’an. Furthermore, according to Abu Zayd, secularism enables the freedom to conduct research on religious matters without persecution from the state or those claiming monopoly on religious thought. The paper will examine the strengths and weaknesses of Abu Zayd’s arguments as well as the reaction among traditional and Islamist intellectuals.

Studies of Islamism are increasingly dichotomized, between scholars emphasizing the essential, ideologically inflexible aspects of Islamist thought and scholars who de-emphasize the ideological, choosing instead to see Islamist movements as political products of local cultural contexts. This polarized trend has grown even larger since the so-called 'Arab Spring' uprisings of 2011. Little analysis has addressed the complex interplay of global and local factors in shaping the priorities, personal evolution, and opportunity frameworks of Islamist leaders. In the Tunisian context, international factors (time spent in exile in France and England, pressure from the EU and other international actors, the global 'war on terror,' etc) have significantly shaped the evolution of Ennahda and its leadership, including-- most prominently -- Rachid al-Ghannouchi. But another set of less-understood grassroots factors -- such as the rise of Salafi jihadism, the presence of a group of young people with little historical exposure to Ennahda, and a heated debate about past abuses and transitional justice -- is also powerfully shaping the ways in which Ennahda's leadership is producing and re-articulating key ideological stances. My presentation, based on nearly two years of ethnographic fieldwork and participant observation with Ennahda leaders, grassroots supporters, and critical young people (including conservatively minded youths and self-proclaimed Salafi jihadis) addresses how this interaction of the global and local is playing out in Tunisia to interestingly shape the production of Islamic thought in a changing post-authoritarian environment.

Many scholars believe that the vibrant religious reform activity of early twentieth-century Egypt entered a dormant phase between the 1940s and the early 1970s. This is attributed to the rise of pan-Arab nationalism, the subsequent evolution of socialism in mid-twentieth-century Egypt, and the supposed relegation of religion to the private sphere. Other scholars recognize religious reform in midcentury Egypt, yet restrict it to the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood. How accurate are these claims on religious reform discourse and activity in mid-twentieth-century Egypt? I plan on showing the interdependency of content and context, or the interplay between agency and structure, in the articulation of religious reform in mid-twentieth-century Egypt through the example of a select network of Azharite‘ulama: Amin al-Khuli, Muhammad al-Bahi, and Mahmud Shaltut. Among the various variables affecting the network’s environment, the role of the Egyptian state stands paramount. As a result, my goal is to show the pervasive influence of the state on the ideas and activities of the ‘ulamanetwork in their articulation of reform and their attitudes towards the production of reform through the reform of al-Azhar. Each of the three reformers developed a different relationship with the state which in turn affected his reform platform. By indulging in a parallel review and analysis of the reformers’ background, environment, ideas, and links to the state, I expose a multifaceted‘ulama network whose reforms are not driven by their ideas alone. I further reveal the reformist platforms of the ‘ulama; present a nuanced intellectual history; examine al-Azhar’s tense relationship with the state; and expose the state’s treatment of religious actors and entities. I utilize Althusser’s ideological state apparatus model, Gramsci’s notion of the organic intellectual, and Foucault’s power paradigms to reveal both the voluntary and unconscious packaging of state-influenced religious reform and the challenges associated with such endeavor through the works and interactions of Khuli, Bahi, and Shaltut. Through exploring the manufacturing process of Azhar-related reforms and the production of religious reform discourse under the monarchical and military regimes, I reveal the ways that religious scholars and the Egyptian state influenced each other, and how this seemingly uneasy combination could coexist through a competition over an institution that was claimed by both the ‘ulama and the state: al-Azhar. As a result, I reveal the powerful permeation of the Egyptian State as a religious reform ‘actor’ alongside a diverse network of Egyptian ‘ulama reformers in mid-twentieth-century Egypt.

Tunisia stands out as the country from which sprang the Arab Spring. The demise of Ben Ali was swift and shocking, but the history of the country since its independence still shapes the debates within post-revolutionary Tunisia in very significant ways. Although Islamist political actors have come to be the most visible force in the country, as has been the case in much of the region, it would be a mistake to perceive the current struggles of Tunisia as simply a struggle between Islamists on one side and secularists on the other. This paper argues that the battles are also about which interpretations of Islam will have the upper hand in shaping the future of Tunisian society and institutions. This is in large part the result of particular educational policies that previous Tunisian governments had implemented and that allowed for the development of strong academic studies of Islam outside the purview of traditional Islamic studies curricula. Islam was analyzed from various angles, using all kinds of fields of modern academic inquiry. After the Jasmine Revolution, it became clear that many of those that some simply label “secularists” possessed highly sophisticated interpretative approaches to Islam. In order to highlight this last point, the paper will take a look at the work of a Tunisian female writer and scholar. Olfa Youssef is a Muslim feminist who has authored books on numerous topics. Importantly, she has been successful in popularizing her perspectives in ways that many modernist Muslim scholars have been unable to achieve. Using media outlets, including satellite television, in an effective manner, Youssef has gained a lot of attention around the Arab world. The paper provides an analysis of Youssef’s hermeneutical methods and conclusions on one hand and discusses the way she communicates her ideas to non-specialist audiences on the other hand in order to impose her voice on the debates surrounding Islam in Tunisia and beyond.